Turkey exempt from US sanctions on Iran oil: minister

The U.S. government has agreed to let eight countries, including close allies South Korea and Japan, as well as India, keep buying Iranian oil after it reimposes sanctions on Tehran from next week
Friday, 02 November 2018 17:52

Turkey is one of the eight countries that the United States will exempt from sanctions for importing Iranian oil, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said Friday.

"According to information we received, Turkey is in the list of countries that have been granted exemptions. However, we are not yet aware of any details," he told reporters, as quoted by state-run Anadolu news agency. 

The U.S. government has agreed to let eight countries, including close allies South Korea and Japan, as well as India, keep buying Iranian oil after it reimposes sanctions on Tehran from next week.

Iran’s biggest oil customers - all in Asia - have been seeking sanctions waivers to allow them to continue buying some of its oil and have argued that a total ban would spur a further rally in the price of crude.

The waivers will be granted in exchange for Iranian oil import cuts, and the move is aimed at avoiding a fuel price spike, according to Bloomberg. 

Tehran welcomes the US decision to allow eight countries to continue buying Iranian oil, Ali Kardor, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company and Iranian deputy oil minister, said in an interview for the local ISNA news agency.

"The United States understands the situation in the market. It is obviously impossible to exclude Iranian oil from the market," Kardor told ISNA.

In May, US President Donald Trump announced US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal and consequent reinstatement of its sanctions against Iran that had been previously lifted within the deal. While the first package of sanctions was introduced in August, the second one, targeting Iranian oil sector, is set to take effect on November 5, and this is when the countries that will get waivers are expected to be officially announced.